Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!mailrus!cornell!calvin.spp.cornell.edu!richard
From: richard@calvin.spp.cornell.edu (Richard Brittain - VOS hacker)
Newsgroups: comp.binaries.ibm.pc.d
Subject: Re: Device Driver that's a Spooler?
Summary: Partial solution: prog | lpr
Keywords: device,driver,spooler,print,printer
Message-ID: <1990Sep24.172712.18078@calvin.spp.cornell.edu>
Date: 24 Sep 90 17:27:12 GMT
References: <1990Sep22.052132.19068@uwasa.fi> <6191@uceng.UC.EDU> <1430@umriscc.isc.umr.edu>
Organization: Cornell Space Plasma Physics
Lines: 41

In article <1430@umriscc.isc.umr.edu> jmd@franklin.ee.umr.edu (Jim Dumser) writes:
>>>In article <442@modcomp.UUCP> kshaffer@modcomp.UUCP (Ken Shaffer) writes:
>>>>Is there a PD device driver available that installs a device that
>>>>is a spooler?
>>>>I wish to modify my config.sys with a statement of the form:
>>>>     device=spooler.sys
>>
>Come on guys!  If you read his post, it was obvious what he wants and why he
>wants it.  Ken would like a device that works like the Unix command lp/lpr.
>It needs to be a device so that he can say something like
>	myfilter < myfile > spool
>and have it worry about saving the output somewhere, and then actually spool
>it to the printer.  You cannot say
>	myfilter < myfile > print
>or (more correctly)
>	myfilter < myfile | print
>because print only works with disk files.  With print, you'd have to say
>	myfilter < myfile > myfile2
>	print myfile2

	The lpr-lpq package posted to c.b.i.p last year will do the pipe option,
saving the intermediate file in a spool directory and feeding it to PRINT via
the int 2f interface.  You would do
  myfilter < myfile | lpr
and forget about it.  I was originally thinking of doing a device driver version
so that word processors or other programs that insist on writing to a device
would work the same way - but I decided this was enough for a first attempt.
WordPerfect, for one, will let you print to a disc file with all formatting 
intact, and then you can background spool the file - but it is very inconvenient.
If anyone wants to take my lpr code and have a go at turning it into a device
driver you have my full support.

Richard Brittain,                   School of Elect. Eng.,  Upson Hall   
                                    Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853
ARPA: richard@calvin.spp.cornell.edu	
UUCP: {uunet,uw-beaver,rochester,cmcl2}!cornell!calvin!richard
-- 
Richard Brittain,                   School of Elect. Eng.,  Upson Hall   
                                    Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853
ARPA: richard@calvin.spp.cornell.edu	
UUCP: {uunet,uw-beaver,rochester,cmcl2}!cornell!calvin!richard